Deadline reports that NBC bought a drama arena this pitch season from Endemol Shine Studios based on J.R. Ward’s ‘The Bourbon Kings’, first in the Bourbon Kings series of novels revolving around the wealthy Bradfords, a family whose empire and incredible wealth was hard-won in the Kentucky bourbon industry. Endemol Shine had acquired in a bidding situation.
While this TV pilot is in the earliest of stages there has been NO casting announcements so far.
Empire co-executive producer David Rambo will write the adaptation, a scorching family saga centered on the Bradfords, an aristocratic Kentucky family who made their fortune in the bourbon industry. Entertainment 360’s Daniel Rappaport, Ben Forkner and Marcus Blakely executive produce.
The Bourbon Kings joins Fox’s untitled Kentucky Bourbon drama project, about the self-made patriarch of a Kentucky bourbon empire and his family.
Originally from New England, Ward, whose books have sold more than 15 million copies, now lives in Kentucky. “The Bourbon Kings is my love letter to my adopted home state, and a cautionary tale of big money, traditional values, and hidden sins,” she said. Ward is repped by APA and The Axelrod Agency.
Rambo, who also served as co-executive producer on NBC’s Revolution, is repped by Rothman Brecher.
J.R. Ward is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood delivers the first novel in an enthralling new series set amid the shifting dynamics of a Southern family defined by wealth and privilege—and compromised by secrets, deceit, and scandal….
For generations, the Bradford family has worn the mantle of kings of the bourbon capital of the world. Their sustained wealth has afforded them prestige and privilege—as well as a hard-won division of class on their sprawling estate, Easterly. Upstairs, a dynasty that by all appearances plays by the rules of good fortune and good taste. Downstairs, the staff who work tirelessly to maintain the impeccable Bradford facade. And never the twain shall meet.
For Lizzie King, Easterly’s head gardener, crossing that divide nearly ruined her life. Falling in love with Tulane, the prodigal son of the bourbon dynasty, was nothing that she intended or wanted—and their bitter breakup only served to prove her instincts were right. Now, after two years of staying away, Tulane is finally coming home again, and he is bringing the past with him. No one will be left unmarked: not Tulane’s beautiful and ruthless wife; not his older brother, whose bitterness and bad blood know no bounds; and especially not the ironfisted Bradford patriarch, a man with few morals, fewer scruples, and many, many terrible secrets.
As family tensions—professional and intimately private—ignite, Easterly and all its inhabitants are thrown into the grips of an irrevocable transformation, and only the cunning will survive.
Of course, we’ll be following this project very closely. Do you think the Bourbon Kings books? And if you’re holding out hope for a Black Dagger Brotherhood movie or TV series one day as well, we’re right there with you.
